East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) Lowered to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on EWBC. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an equal weight rating and set a $56.00 price objective on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Monday, July 24th. 92 Resources reaffirmed a maintains rating on shares of East West Bancorp in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Friday, July 21st. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of East West Bancorp from $64.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday, June 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $68.86.

East West Bancorp Stock Performance

NASDAQ EWBC opened at $54.11 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.07, a PEG ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.45. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $57.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.51. East West Bancorp has a twelve month low of $33.86 and a twelve month high of $80.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

East West Bancorp (NASDAQ:EWBC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 20th. The financial services provider reported $2.20 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.20. The business had revenue of $645.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $660.49 million. East West Bancorp had a net margin of 37.14% and a return on equity of 20.86%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.81 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that East West Bancorp will post 8.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

East West Bancorp Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 1st were paid a dividend of $0.48 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 31st. This represents a $1.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.55%. East West Bancorp’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.52%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Rudolph Estrada sold 2,411 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.96, for a total transaction of $134,919.56. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 18,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,037,946.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.91% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On East West Bancorp

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the first quarter worth $91,625,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 28.0% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,243,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $401,999,000 after purchasing an additional 1,584,558 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the fourth quarter worth $99,407,000. Bank of Montreal Can acquired a new stake in East West Bancorp in the second quarter worth $70,749,000. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in East West Bancorp by 15.0% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,793,739 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $321,553,000 after purchasing an additional 756,930 shares during the period. 87.11% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About East West Bancorp

East West Bancorp, Inc operates as the bank holding company for East West Bank that provides a range of personal and commercial banking services to businesses and individuals. The company operates through three segments: Consumer and Business Banking, Commercial Banking, and Other. It accepts various deposit products, such as personal and business checking and savings accounts, money market, and time deposits.